A Brief Introduction
Hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals! My name is Michelle Nguyen, and I am currently an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and minoring in Asian American Studies. I love hiking, biking, bullet journal, crocheting, and drawing during my free time. I am in love with the arts, especially landscapes in abstract experessionism and contemporary art. I tend to find inspiration whenever I go out on a drive or travel, with my favorite scenery just simply being Ha Long Bay at Vietnam. I might show a drawing portfolio here!
I also carry so much pride around my Southeast Asian identity, and have done and keep doing work and research for advocacy amongst the Southeast Asian community. As a second generation Vietnamese American, I aim to work together with other members amongst my community to amplify the stories and narratives that have been silenced and create a safe space while also sharing my own personal experiences. I am not new to cartography and web-map making, it is my first time being fully hands-on with it, but I am excited to learn more about it! As I extend my knowledge on the subject, I will apply it into my own work of advocacy in order to bring light of the topics of data disaggregation amongst the AAPI communties and improve on those methods so that we're more knowledgable about it and to prevent harm when it comes to drawing conclusions about the AAPI communities. When working with data collection and surveys, it's always important to create not only acknowledgement, but also a safe forum to show the stories behind the numbers that people will tend to focus most on.
Here are a couple websites of my most recent involvements and projects! I was a mentor for SEA Admit Weekend recently, and a group of Vietnamese Student Union interns and I are currently working together to start a podcast: